The great irony is that the mono mix--considered at the time to be the most polished version of the mix, and the one heard by the most people, back during the film's initial release--has faded into obscurity.

The 70mm mix, with the original Beru voice, is the one which served as the basis for all home video/TV releases, and is the one most people now know. Certain extra sound effects and bits of dialogue from the mono mix were added back in for the 1997 Special Edition, but the original Aunt Beru voice remained. As a result, the voice heard by the most people back in '77 has now become the "alternate" voice, and a genuine rarity, since the mono mix has never officially been made available on home video.

Great lessons in that clip. Almost every single editing decision was crucial in transforming that disastrous first cut into what Star Wars became. Lucas was incredibly smart (or fortunate) to have surrounded himself with people who could help him get to the screened version because that initial attempt was a mess.

It should also be noted that Lucas only filmed those early Luke scenes because his filmmaker friends convinced him that focusing on the droids for the first 20 minutes of the movie was a bad idea, and that the audience needed to meet the main character as soon as possible. His original concept turned out to be the right one.

At first I thought it would've been kind of cool to have Luke miss on his first shot at the exhaust port, but on second thought it would have become blatantly obvious would have happened on his second pass.

I still find it incredible whenever I hear that the Death Star was not attacking Yavin 4 in the initial edit. The attack's inclusion is so well done that you would never guess.

Makes me wonder what could be done to up the energy/coherence of TPM - but the issues I have with that are more to do with it driving a coach and horses through any established back story, so maybe not.

Lucas was incredibly smart (or fortunate) to have surrounded himself with people who could help him get to the screened version because that initial attempt was a mess.

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Reading how much Marcia Lucas is credited for building the tension in the trench run scene in editing, as well as convincing George not to cut some of the resonant character moments that made Star Wars memorable, I'd say he was fortunate that he was married to a good editor. It's those things that were missing from the prequel trilogy.

Marcia Lucas definitely deserves credit. She was quite a talent. George Lucas' AMERICAN GRAFFITI is marvelously streamlined and economical, and Marcia Lucas (with Verna Fields, who edited JAWS!) edited that too, and received an Oscar nomination for that earlier film.

Very nice video. Thanks Greg. I had always known there was significant editing on Star Wars, but knowing where the film started from sheds light on the amount of editing that actually brought that picture to the screen.

That was a great watch. The editing really did make the movie. It really shows the power of a great editor. It also really shows what is wrong with the prequels and Special Edition, and Lucas believing his own press.

I still find it incredible whenever I hear that the Death Star was not attacking Yavin 4 in the initial edit. The attack's inclusion is so well done that you would never guess.

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Part of the video doesn't make sense, time-wise...video says the screening took place in Feb 1977...the novelization of STAR WARS was released in December 1976 and in the novelization, the Death Star IS making it's way through the Yavin system to blow up Yavin 4...

Other than that nit-pick, great way to show case how a film comes together in the edit process.

This was a very tidy video, my only wish was for it to go deeper and really tug the string of the editing tricks that hold Star Wars together, like the back and forth roll of the attack of the tuskan warrior over Luke appearing to raise and lower his weapon, when it was really an optical reversal of the shot that terminated with the raising of the weapon.

Robin, that scene kind of pulls me out of the movie whenever I see it. I wish they hadn't done it.

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That shot is one of those things I would never have noticed, had it not been pointed out to me.

In terms of shots that pull me out of the movie, the one that immediately comes to mind would be the flopped shot of Artoo at the Yavin base. Since his design is asymmetrical, shots like that really stand out.

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